The sound of her tooth shattering was nothing compared to the sound that came next—her father’s voice at the door.

Three days later, the war began in earnest.

Trevor didn't care about Rebecca; he cared about his reputation, his lifestyle, and, most importantly, his control. Backed by a high-priced divorce attorney who specialized in high-net-worth litigation, Trevor filed an emergency custody petition and a defamation lawsuit, claiming that Rebecca had fabricated the abuse allegations, staged her injuries, and abducted their daughter.

Rebecca sat in the glass-walled conference room of Sterling & Partners' legal division, surrounded by three corporate lawyers and a criminal defense specialist named Arthur Vance.

"He's claiming you fell down the stairs during a domestic dispute caused by your own mental instability," Arthur said, sliding a thick stack of legal documents across the mahogany table. "He has character witness statements from two of his coworkers saying you seemed erratic on the phone."

Rebecca felt a surge of hot anger. She opened her folder, pulling out a flash drive and a sheaf of printed medical records.

"Here," Rebecca said, her voice clear and strong now that her tooth had been temporarily bonded and her lip had healed. "These are date-stamped photographs of bruises he gave me six months ago before Emma was born. These are bank statements showing withdrawals he forced me to make from my personal savings account to pay off his bookie. And this..." She slid a digital recorder across the table. "...is an audio file of him threatening to take Emma away and ruin me if I ever spoke about his temper."

Arthur played the audio clip. The room filled with Trevor’s venomous voice snarling through the tiny speaker: “If you ever cross me, Rebecca, I’ll make sure the courts see you as an unfit mother. I’ll bury you.”

Arthur smiled, a sharp, predatory grin. "Well. That should do it. Not only will we secure full custody and a permanent restraining order, but we can also use the financial records to add domestic extortion and spousal abuse to the criminal charges."

"I don't just want a restraining order," Rebecca said, her blue eyes—the exact shade of her father's—narrowing with quiet resolve. "I want to make sure he never has the power to hurt another woman again."